Boston Things to Do Tips by zChris

The North End is Boston's Little Italy (but please don't ever call it that...this is not New York) as well as the oldest part of the city. The area is a mishmash of historic sites, narrow brick homes, excellent Italian restaurants, and expensive waterfront condominiums. It's an absolute must for those who enjoy wandering narrow, circuitous streets lined with tall homes as one finds in Europe, and the Italian character of the neighbourhood (occasionally residents actually shout at each other in Italian across the streets) adds to the Old-World charm. Granted, you won't feel like you're in Siena with the brick homes and New England Patriots football jackets, but the area has an unrivaled uniquity. The Old North Church, a major historic landmark, is located here, as well as the Paul Revere House, the oldest structure surviving in the city. Don't forget a visit to Mike's or Modern Pastry for some delicious half-moons or cannolis. Food is the North End's essence, as one may garner from Bostonians who virtually use the name of the eponymous neighbourhood as a synonym for gastronomic ecstacy.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Bounded by Boston Harbour and the Central Artery.
T stops: Haymarket (Green and Orange Lines), North Station (Green and Orange Lines, Commuter Rail)
Website: http://www.northendweb.com

This is North Square, one of the most historic squares in Boston. Here you'll find the Paul Revere House, the oldest house in central Boston, built around 1680. The house was home to Paul Revere, famous for his ride to warn rebel colonists of the British advance and his subsequent patriot activities and silversmithery. The house has been restored to its original appearance circa 1770 and is tourable. The rest of the square includes a small garden, a beautiful church, several other colonial houses, and some excellent Italian restaurants. Some of the original cobblestone is intact as well.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Off Hanover Street in the North End

Among Boston's major landmarks, the Old North Church is perhaps the best loved. Constructed in the 1720s, the church was Boston's tallest for a long period of time, defining th skyline with its beautiful, distinctive steeple. The steeple was used to warn colonists of how th British would advance; one lantern if by land and two if by sea were hung in the steeple. The steeple was actually severely damaged by a hurricane in the 1920s and had to be rebuilt. Inside, the church is serene and quiet, its pews boxed off in the traditional style of 18th century Congregational houses of worship. Behind the church are some interesting gardens and the Prado, an Italian-style piazza that stretches past fountains and shade trees to Hanover Street.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Salem Street, North End

Long the North End's treasured tiny open space, Copp's Hill Burying Ground is home to the gravesites of many of th city's earliest inhabitants as well as more recent ones. The cemetary has beautiful sweping views over the harbour and was used by North Enders to watch the Revolutionary War Battle of Bunker Hill unfold in nearby Charlestown. The British eventually mounted long-range cannons on its heights and used its tombs for target practice until they were forced out of the city. Many of the graves here are well over 200 years old.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Off Salem Street, North End

The soul of the North End is its main commercial thoroughfare- Hanover Street. Hanover is lined with restaurants, cafes, delis and pastry shops, making for a lively atmopshere. Mike's Pastry is a local favourite for delictables, while North Enders love to hang out at Caffe dello Sport. You'll often hear Italian bing spoken in the shops and restaurants and sometimes it's a downright requirement in order to get good service. A few blocks away, Salem Street is less busy and bustling but is less flashy and expensive and exudes the flavour of the old neighbourhood. It's spreckled with bakeries, corner stores, and antiques shops.

Leave a Comment

Stroll through the this impressive district, Boston's wealthiest and most dynamic neighbourhood. Layed out in the 1850s as a grid (the only area of Boston so highly organised), the area grew to accomodate wealthy townhouses and academic institutions. Later, homes on Newbury Street were converted into the chic expensive boutiques there today and those on Boylston Street gave way to become a skyscraping commercial district, focused around bustling Copley Square. In fact, the city's two tallest buildings are in the Back Bay and not downtown. Copley Square features H.H. Richardson's masterpiece Trinity Church and the beautiful Boston Public Library. The square itself is quite beautiful. Newbury Street is the city's finest shopping, and parts of it still retain a bohemian flavour, while others are more stale rows of Italian designer shops. Commonwealth Avenue, the city's most elegant street, is lined with exquisite homes and has a beautiful tree-shaded mall in its centre.

Leave a Comment

Directions: The Back Bay is borded by the Public Garden on the east, Storrow Drive and the Charles River on the north, Massachusetts Ave. on the west, and the Southwest Corridor Park on the south.

Definitely check out Copley Squarethe cultural hub of the Back Bay. On this side of the square is Trinity Church, considered a masterpiece of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture, by H.H. Richardson himself. The church has established itself as a Boston landmark and is well known by architects worldwide. Step inside; the interior is even more beautiful than the facade. Rising to the right of the Trinity and reflecting its beauty is the John Hancock Building, the tallest in Boston and all of New England. At the top of the Hancock is an observation deck with the best view of the city of Boston- downtown to the east; the Back Bay, Charles River, and Cambridge to the North; the Prudential Center and Fenway to the west; and the South End to the south. Going to the top of the Hancock cost $6 for an adult. Copley Square park itself is beautiful, with a summertime garden and winter ice sculptures. There's a uniue fountain, and concerts are held here during the summertime.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Bounded by Boylston, Dartmouth, Clarendon, and St. James Streets
T stops: Copley (Green Line), Back Bay Station (Orange Line)

Leave a Comment

On the other side of Copley Square are two more Boston landmarks. The first is the beautiful Italian-Renaissance palazzo style Boston Public Library, which is adorned with sculptures and inscriptions. The interior is no less spectacular, in fact it far exceeds the facade in impressiveness, with a grand staircase. Further within is the inner courtyard, with its arcades and statuary, resembling the cloister of a medieval monastery. Across Bolyston Street from the library is the confusingly named New Old South Church. When the congregation of the Old South Meetinghouse downtown moved here in the mid 19th century, the parish kept its name, becoming the New Old South. The soaring gothic revival church is wonderfully adorned. The interior is nice as well.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Dartmouth Street between Boylston Street and Huntington Avenue, along Copley Square
T stop: Copley (Green Line)

The paradoxical name of this soaring gothic landmark can be attributed to Boston's fickle upper classes, who in the mid-19th century abandoned their old berth at the venerable Old South Meetinghouse as its downtown location was increasingly taking on the trappings of a commercial district. In the shapeless expanse of the early Back Bay, therefore, the city's elite planted their new congregation, close to the new mansions beginning to line increasingly fashionable Commonwealth Avenue. Today, its soaring spires, inspired by the churches of mediaeval Venice, compete naturally with Trinity Church, its portly Richardsonian neighbour, and find it lacking in the guile necessary to pierce the sky with such brilliantly glinting Victorian accents.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Corner of Dartmouth and Boylston Street in Copley Square
T stop: Copley (Green Line)